Scotland’s private sector economy surges in UK league but the news ‘falls of the BBC News editor’s table’

February 11, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWSIn the Herald today, by their only decent journalist, Ian McConnell: Scotland last month surged up the league table of UK nations and regions in terms of the performance of its private sector … Continue reading Scotland’s private sector economy surges in UK league but the news ‘falls of the BBC News editor’s table’

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I see we are about to nationalise it but why should we, the Scottish taxpayer, pay much for the Ardrossan dock, fully owned and neglected by a Manchester billionaire tax exile ?

February 11, 2025January 3, 2026 johnrobertson834

First posted nearly a year ago By Professor John Robertson OBA Front page in the Herald today, 18 paragraphs putting responsibility for the maintenance of the Ardrossan dock, one of the two hubs for Arran crossings, onto the First Minister, based on the prompting of Katy Clark, Labour MSP and Baroness of Kilwinning. After reading those 18 paragraphs, would any reader wonder who owns the dock? CalMac? Scottish Government? North Ayrshire Council? Nope, it’s James Whittaker, a Manchester billionaire. Read on. In the UK Defence Journal in April 2024: “The facilities at Ardrossan have not been maintained to an acceptable standard,” stated Duncan Mackison, Interim … Continue reading I see we are about to nationalise it but why should we, the Scottish taxpayer, pay much for the Ardrossan dock, fully owned and neglected by a Manchester billionaire tax exile ?

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TWICE as many wait over 8 hours in NHS Wales A&E departments but Holyrood Mag finds a way to hide that fact and others favourable to NHS Scotland as well as to fake their figures

February 10, 2025 johnrobertson834

stewartb An article about NHS Scotland in Holyrood Magazine today has a very odd statistic. Am I missing something? See: Holyrood Magazine (February10, , 2025) Bed Bound: The chronic problem of delayed discharges is tying up resources across the NHS. Here is the text with the problematic stat (the named reference is to the author of a recent IFS report): ‘The honest answer is that it’s probably too early to tell, although Phillips says there are some signs of recovery in England’s NHS based on available data. Meanwhile, figures published last week showed more than 180,000 patients waited more than eight hours … Continue reading TWICE as many wait over 8 hours in NHS Wales A&E departments but Holyrood Mag finds a way to hide that fact and others favourable to NHS Scotland as well as to fake their figures

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Mental health services – 18% improvement in one year as almost 90% of children and adolescents now treated within target

February 10, 2025 johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today is headlining their own Disclosure team’s interviews with teenagers from one Glasgow unit. It sounds tragic. While taking nothing away from the unacceptability of the treatment reported, BBC Scotland also has a responsibility beyond that, to inform the public of the wider context so that one negative report does not, unfairly, come to represent reality for their audience. The latest figures, from Public Health Scotland, tell another important and different story: For the quarter ending September 2024: 89.1% of children and young people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an … Continue reading Mental health services – 18% improvement in one year as almost 90% of children and adolescents now treated within target

Classic media bias to harm tourism and morale as CalMac non-weather-related ferry cancellations actually FALL by 20% in the last year and reliability hits nearly 97%

February 9, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS The Daily Mail today has Islanders ‘abandoned’ by the SNP as cancellations due to ferry repairs soar by a staggering 2,000pc in 13 years and other rags, including the Herald, are in … Continue reading Classic media bias to harm tourism and morale as CalMac non-weather-related ferry cancellations actually FALL by 20% in the last year and reliability hits nearly 97%

Opposition MSPs and journalists waste £5 MILLION in taxpayer’s money to try to dig dirt on SNP Government in a 42% surge

February 9, 2025February 9, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/talking-up-scotland#start By Professor John Robertson OBA, Research Ethics Chair, Faculty of Media, UWS According to the Daily Record today: A Tory MSP cost the taxpayer over £100,000 after tabling almost one thousand “spurious” parliamentary questions. Douglas Lumsden was accused of a “flagrant abuse” of … Continue reading Opposition MSPs and journalists waste £5 MILLION in taxpayer’s money to try to dig dirt on SNP Government in a 42% surge

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Labour Government to force cuts that further widen the staffing spending and consequently the attainment gap between schools in Scotland and England

February 9, 2025February 9, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Faculty of Education, UWS From the Guardian today: Cash-strapped schools plan to lay off teachers in blow to Labour’s promiseDespite government pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, headteachers are under renewed pressure … Continue reading Labour Government to force cuts that further widen the staffing spending and consequently the attainment gap between schools in Scotland and England

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Another Scottish Labour leader believes in accuracy in the media unless you’re talking about Scotland

February 9, 2025February 9, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Elon Musk circulates information which is untrue and tries to distort what is going on. Ayesha Yousef Hazarika, Baroness Hazarika MBA ‘Scottish broadcaster, journalist and political commentator, and former political adviser to senior Labour Party politicians’, features in Can … Continue reading Another Scottish Labour leader believes in accuracy in the media unless you’re talking about Scotland

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Don’t these dentists know there’s a crisis in dentistry? Scottish Labour MPs are telling England there is one to make them feel better and able to keep looking down on us

February 8, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Look at that from Newmilns in East Ayrshire! No need to queue round the block for an appointment and then wait forever for it, as we hear is the case across NHS England. I wonder is the … Continue reading Don’t these dentists know there’s a crisis in dentistry? Scottish Labour MPs are telling England there is one to make them feel better and able to keep looking down on us

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Labour’s planned small modular reactors – inefficient, polluting and carcinogenic – will also be dependent on high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) from Putin’s Russia which has ‘complete monopoly’ to undermine our energy security

February 8, 2025 johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA I’m grateful to @NickyZog for alerting me to these sources. From the high-status Foreign Policy on January 2oth 2025: For the United States—a country that, especially under incoming President-elect Donald Trump, aspires to be not only energy … Continue reading Labour’s planned small modular reactors – inefficient, polluting and carcinogenic – will also be dependent on high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) from Putin’s Russia which has ‘complete monopoly’ to undermine our energy security